Gun laws column missed the mark

Monday, August 19, 2013

To the Editor:The guest columnist in the July 30, 2013 issue of your paper is certainly out in left field. First off, there is no such thing as a sensible gun law such as the kind that the Mayors Against Illegal Guns supports. That nonsense about protecting “one child, one mother, one father, one friend, or neighbor” is just folly. To follow that thinking, we should outlaw bathtubs, staircases, automobiles, baseball bats, knives, etc.

When Ms. Comitta puts forth her statistics about how Pennsylvania has fewer gun-related instances, she doesn’t state fewer than what, nor does she prove that background checks for the sale of handguns is the determining factor in these statistics. Where did she get these percentages?

She states that long guns are used in hundreds of gun murders in America. Of course, she didn’t cite the FBI statistics that show that in 2011 rifle and shotgun murders amounted to 679 combined while knives/blades accounted for 1,694, hands/fists/feet accounted for 726, handguns for 6,200, and other weapons for 1,694.

She also stated that the NICS system “has blocked about 2 million gun sales to people who are prohibited by law from owning guns.” That simply is not true. That is the total number of people who were initially rejected by NICS, but a vast majority of these were later allowed to purchase a gun because of discrepancies in the NICS system.

She also says, “I stand together with 96 percent of our neighbors and urge our state and federal legislators to listen to the people…” Where did she get that 96 percent? She just kept throwing out statements and statistics with no backup showing that they are accurate.

These mayors are looking to counter the problems they are having in their cities and towns by waging a war on inanimate objects rather than attacking the core reasons why there is so much violent crime in their jurisdictions.